Swaminathan J, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, has emphasized the critical role of internal ombudsmen (IOs) in resolving customer complaints effectively and preventing external escalations. According to reports from The Economic Times, Swaminathan urged IOs to provide meaningful, fair and effective resolution of customer complaints and reduce external escalation. He also requested IOs to identify recurring issues, undertake root cause analysis and help implement remedial measures during the annual conference of Internal Ombudsmen held on July 13, 2026. The conference brought together IOs from across a representative spectrum of regulated entities including banks, non-banking financial companies, credit information companies and other regulated entities, along with MD, EDs and CEOs charge of customer service, as well as RBI Ombudsmen and senior officials of the Reserve Bank.
The Internal Ombudsman serves as the final independent level of review within regulated entities including banks, non-banking financial companies, and credit information companies for customer complaints that have not been fully resolved. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Banking Standard, and The Economic Times, this mechanism operates before customers approach the RBI Ombudsman or another external forum. Swaminathan urged Boards and senior management to empower the IO mechanism and use its insights to strengthen customer service and grievance redress. The conference focused on faster, higher-quality resolutions and systemic improvements to prevent avoidable escalations, with discussions covering recent grievance redress developments and regulatory expectations.
The conference sessions covered recent grievance redress developments, regulatory expectations, and RBI Ombudsman insights, focusing on faster, higher-quality resolutions and systemic improvements to prevent avoidable escalations. According to Banking Standard and The Economic Times, discussions focused on improving the speed and quality of complaint resolution while addressing systemic shortcomings. The conference was attended by Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers, Executive Directors in charge of customer service, Principal Nodal Officers of regulated entities as well as RBI Ombudsmen and central bank senior officials, including Sonali Sen Gupta, Executive Director. RBI Executive Director Sonali Sen Gupta also held an open-house interaction with participants on ways to further strengthen the Internal Ombudsman framework.
According to the Reserve Bank of India's Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) data for FY25, total complaints increased by 13.55 per cent to 1.33 million in FY25 from 1.18 million in FY24. As reported by Banking Standard, private sector banks received 111,119 complaints during the year, while public sector banks received 103,117 complaints. The Office of the RBI Ombudsman (ORBIO) received 296,000 complaints in FY25, up 0.82 per cent from the previous year. Banks accounted for the largest share at 242,000 complaints (81.53 per cent), followed by NBFCs with 43,864 complaints (14.80 per cent).
